Police urged to clampdown on COVID-19 regulation contraveners
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Photo: GCIS
Police Minister Bheki Cele has called on police officers to strengthen their resolve in clamping down on COVID-19 lockdown regulation contraventions during the festive season.
The Minister made these remarks during a law enforcement parade in Limpopo on Thursday.
During the provincial inspection tour which was aimed at ensuring that citizens and holidaymakers enjoy and safe festive season, the Minister also visited the Musina border post
“Your [aw enforcement agencies] job description is mandated by the Constitution of the land; it is to prevent, combat, investigate, uphold the law and ensure that inhabitants are safe. Nowhere does it say you take bribes.
“It is your job to protect and prevent. You must remember that as law enforcement, your job is to preserve human life [and that] you do it with passion and empathy.”
The Minister expressed concern that commentators and experts were only calling on police officers to exercise restraint and execute roles and responsibilities responsibly but were not urging the public to behave and respect laws.
“South Africans must learn to behave. Yes, extra care from you is expected, but South Africans are not there to break the law as they wish. We know what to do and not what to do,” he said.
On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that areas with the highest rate of infection, beaches and public parks will be closed for the duration of the festive season from 16 December 2020 to 3 January 2021.
This applies to all of the Eastern Cape, as well as to the Garden Route district in the Western Cape. In KwaZulu-Natal, beaches and public parks will be closed on what are traditionally the busiest days of the season.
These days are the 16th, 25th, 26th and 31st of December 2020 and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January 2021.
The beaches and public parks of the Northern Cape and the Western Cape – with the exception of the Garden Route – will remain open to the public over the festive season.
Cele said while Limpopo has no beaches, police should not rest on their laurels.
He ordered police to intensify the clampdown on illegal shebeens, saying these establishments remain the main generator of criminal activity.
